NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Today is the last of our regular playlist series. " Big Machine " is one of The Goo Goo Dolls ' rock songs for a band that's mostly known for their adult contemporary hits. The music video is a little grainy and it's not one of their most enduring hits. It's a good song to look back on in Fall nostalgia and that's why I chose it as today's song. 

In 2006, The Goo Goo Dolls celebrated their 20th anniversary as a band. It’s hard to imagine that the band that started as a punk and metal group from Buffalo, New York, became a staple on Adult Contemporary radio. Their breakthrough song, “ Name ,” was a lazy-day acoustic track. The band’s biggest album, Dizzy Up the Girl contained a few upbeat acoustic rock tracks like “ Broadway ” and “ Slide .” Still, their biggest song, “ Iris ,” from the film City of Angels was similar to “Name” except for cinematic string production. Their follow-up, 2002’s Gutterflower also contained the upbeat “ Here Is Gone ” as well as the rocker “ Big Machine .” But in the band’s 20th anniversary year, The Goo Goo Dolls released their mellowest album, Let Love In .    TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT THE WORLD BEGINS AGAIN. I remember my dad saying something like when a band starts to release covers, it’s a sign of the end. I don’t know if there’s data on this, but I’ve noticed cases of this from Sixpence None the Ri

Before their massively successful 1995 studio debut,  Jars of Clay  released a self-produced demo titled  Frail ,  which included several songs that made it to their  eponymous release . Two songs, though, were reworked and found their way onto their less commercially successful sophomore release,  Much Afraid .  Departing from their acoustic folk-rock sound,  Much Afraid  sounds like a 1997 album. It spawned two singles, " Crazy Times ," peaking at #38 on the Modern Rock singles, and " Five Candles " (You Were There), originally written for  Jim Carrey 's  Liar Liar ,  but eventually used in  Michael Keaton 's  Jack Frost .    Much Afraid  is a fine Jars of Clay album. It's more fun to listen to than their debut, varying between folk-rock and modern rock. However, it failed to propel Jars of Clay into the 1997 rock scene. Listeners may not remember them amongst their contemporaries, like  The Goo Goo Dolls ,  Third Eye Blind , and  Matchbox Twenty . Ins

  I'm working on a new system for my blog so that I stop saying the same thing over and over again. I don't always have time to research an album cycle or the artist around the time of the album cycle, but I have written considerably about certain albums and artists. I want to provide links to those posts in album posts, like today's. I haven't written a lot about the tracks on Anberlin 's seminal record Cities , but it still is one of my favorite albums. In the future, this post can be a jumping-off point for other tracks on the record. I could write books on each track and my experiences with them, but today you'll just get a few sentences about each. Enjoy the album as it turns sixteen today. 1. ( Début ). For about a minute and a half, Anberlin introduces us to a dark world in an instrumental composed of city sound effects and noisy guitars. The song reminds me of Jerry Martin 's Sim City 4 soundtrack. (Début) leads into " Godspeed ." 2. "

Fuel 's 1998 hit " Shimmer " propelled the band onto the rock charts. This was the post-grunge, Modern Rock era when rock's sound was cleaner, less gravelly, but still hard. At this time, rock still had crossover pop-chart/ Hot 100 hit-making skills. While Fuel's follow-up record, Something Like Human  would sport two hits that charted higher than "Shimmer," the band's first song is still one of their best-known songs.  ALL THAT SHIMMERS IN THIS WORLD IS SURE TO FADE. I've included a video below about the career of Fuel. When I think of late '90s/early '00s Modern Rock, Fuel is certainly on my shortlist, but I'm not sure that they would make everyone's. I'd list Third Eye Blind , Semisonic , Tonic , Vertical Horizon , and The Goo Goo Dolls along with Fuel, though Fuel aimed to be a harder rock act than these groups. That may be one reason Fuel may be forgotten. Another reason may be that after Something Like Human,  they were

Before their massively successful 1995 studio debut, Jars of Clay released a self-produced demo titled Frail , which included several songs that made it to their eponymous release . Two songs, though, were reworked and found their way onto their less commercially successful sophomore release, Much Afraid . Departing from their acoustic folk-rock sound, Much Afraid  sounds like a 1997 album. It spawned two singles, " Crazy Times ," peaking at #38 on the Modern Rock singles, and " Five Candles " (You Were There), originally written for Jim Carrey 's Liar Liar , but eventually used in Michael Keaton 's Jack Frost.    Much Afraid is a fine Jars of Clay album. It's more fun to listen to than their debut, varying between folk-rock and modern rock. However, it failed to propel Jars of Clay into the 1997 rock scene. Listeners may not remember them amongst their contemporaries, like The Goo Goo Dolls , Third Eye Blind , and Matchbox Twenty . Instead, they are a